Judicial: Labor, Insecticide, Susan Ahrens v. Hartford Florists’ Supply, Inc. et al. Additional Party Names: Delaware Valley Floral Grp., Inc., No. HHDCV166071005S, 2018 WL 4655804 (Conn. Super. Ct. Sept. 7, 2018); Plaintiff alleged on September 12, 2013, the plaintiff handled flowers she ordered from which were put into the stream of commerce. As a result of handling the flowers and later touching her eye, the plaintiff developed infectious keratitis, which caused severe damage to her eye. The infectious keratitis was caused by Paecilomyces, a biological insecticide used to control pests in cut flowers. Motion to dismiss denied.

ESTEBAN ALFARO-HUITRON, ELEAZAR GARCIA-MATA, JOSE ANTONIO GARCIA-MATA, JUAN GUZMAN, JOSE GERARDO JASSO, RAUL JASSO-CERDA, ISMAEL MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, ENRIQUE ROJAS-TORRES, LAZARO ROJAS-TORRES, TRINIDAD SANTOYO-GARCIA PEDRO TAMEZ, ANGELA TREJO, EFRAIN TREJO, SANTOS TREJO, & YANETH TREJO, Plaintiffs, v. WKI OUTSOURCING SOLUTIONS, LLC, JAIME CAMPOS, CERVANTES AGRIBUSINESS, CERVANTES ENTERPRISES, INC., RJF FARMS, INC., RONNIE J. FRANZOY, TIERRA DE DIOS FARMS, LLC, RIO VALLEY CHILI INC., LACK FARMS, INC. & SKYLINE PRODUCE, LLC Defendants., No. 215CV00210JCHJHR, 2018 WL 4685578 (D.N.M. Sept. 28, 2018);This matter is before the Court on Defendants joint Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs are United States citizens or lawful permanent residents who were given hiring priority through the federal H-2A program to provide manual labor on fields and land owned by the Defendants during the 2011-2012 harvest seasons. The farm labor contractor who recruited and hired Plaintiffs – Defendants WKI Outsourcing Solutions, LLC (“WKI”) and its owner Jaime Campos – never actually furnished Plaintiffs to work for the Cervantes Defendants. Citing a drought, Campos cancelled Plaintiffs’ work contracts at the last minute. Plaintiffs allege there was no such unusual drought; the real reason Campos cancelled their contracts was because he realized there were too many qualified U.S. workers, so he would not be able to access foreign laborers from Mexico, which was Defendants’ alleged goal all along.Based on the theory that the Cervantes Defendants and WKI “jointly employed” Plaintiffs, they sued the Cervantes Defendants under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural WorkerProtectionAct, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1854 (“AWPA”) contending, among other things, that they were equally liable for WKI’s cancellation of their work contracts. The Court concludes that the Cervantes Defendants’ motion should be granted because they did not jointly employ Plaintiffs.

Eric Williams, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gregory A. Brockway, Individually, & as Ex’r of the Estate of Lowell B. Brockway, et al., Defendant-Appellee., 2018-Ohio-3969;Appellant, appeals from the judgment of the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas entering summary judgment in favor of appellee on his complaint against the appellant concerning the sale of a parcel of land. The Court affirmed.The property at issue, which totaled approximately 96 acres, is located in Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio, and was previously owned by appellee’s father. Upon his father’s death in December 2011, appellee was appointed the executor for the estate which included, among others, said property. Appellee obtained a realtor, who notated that the property included a Current Agricultural Use Valuation (“CAUV”) tax designation and was currently in the midst of a five-year lease agreement with Aloterra Farms to grow grasses for biofuels on the property, all of which were established while the property was still owned by appellee’s father. While neither appellant nor appellee had any formal discussions concerning the purchase of the land in any capacity, both agreed to be represented by the realtor in a dual agency relationship throughout the transaction.

Legislative:

H.R. 6870: To rename the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 in honor of Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter, This bill passed in the House on September 28, 2018 and goes to the Senate next for consideration. Info Here

H.R. 7005: To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and declare wildlife disease emergencies and to coordinate rapid response to these emergencies, and for other purposes, Introduced on Sep 28, 2018, Info Here

H.R. 6966: To establish a regulatory system for marine aquaculture in the United States exclusive economic zone, and for other purposes, Introduced on Sep 28, 2018, Info Here

Newsletter Sign-up

Your Email*

Follow us on social:

Located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the National Agricultural Law Center serves the nation’s vast agricultural community and is a key partner of the USDA National Agricultural Library. For more information, click here.
Web design and hosting by One Big Kid